Particulate emissions from combustion of biomass in conventional combustion (air) and oxy-combustion conditions

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Oxy-fuel combustion is a viable technology for new and existing coal-fired power plants, as it facilitates carbon capture and thereby, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The use of biomass as an energy source is another popular strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as they are considered nearly carbon dioxide neutral. If the use of biomass is combined with oxy-fuel combustion, negative net emissions of carbon dioxide are possible. This work examined the particulate emissions from combustion of pulverized biomass residues burning in either conventional or oxy-fuel environments. Combustion of three biomasses (olive residue, corn residue, and torrefied pine sawdust) occurred in a laboratory-scale laminar-flow drop tube furnace (DTF) heated to 1400 K. The O2 mole fraction was increased from 20% to 60% in N2 environments while a range of 30% to 60% O2 mole fractions were used in CO2 environments to represent plausible dry oxy-fuel combustion conditions. Submicron particulate matter (PM1) emission yields of all three fuels were typically lower in O2/CO2 environments than in O2/N2 environments. When the oxygen mole fraction was increased, the PM1 yields typically increased. The mass fractions of submicron particulate matter (PM1/PM18) collected from biomass combustion were higher than those of coal combustion. PM1 constituted approximately 50 wt% of the collected ash particles in PM18 in each environment, whereas the corresponding submicron emissions from coal constituted approximately 20 wt%. Changing the background gas had little effect on the chemical composition of the PM1 particles. Unlike the submicron particles collected from coal which contained high amounts of silicon and aluminum, high amounts of alkalis (potassium, calcium, and sodium) and chlorine were the major elements observed in PM1 from the biomasses. In addition, phosphorous and sulfur also existed in high amounts in PM1 of corn residue. Super-micron particles (PM1-18) yields exhibited no clear trend when the background gas was changed or when the oxygen mole fraction was increased. The composition of these particles reflected the bulk ash composition of the parent fuels. Olive residue resulted in by far the largest particulate yields, while torrefied pine sawdust had the lowest. The yields of these two biomasses were analogous with the ash contents of the parent fuels. The particulate yields of corn residue, however, were lower than expected when compared to the parent fuel's ash content. This was attributed to the high phosphorous and sulfur contents of this fuel which might have increased its deposition tendencies in the laboratory furnace.